BORIS Johnson has been forced to defend his controversial visit last week to a vaccine production site in Scotland, which the SNP leadership condemned as “utterly reckless,” after it emerged a number of Covid cases had been reported there in January prior to his arrival.
The Prime Minister insisted no one had raised with him the virus infection cases at the Valneva site in Livingston and he made clear it was his job to visit all parts of the UK, declaring: “No one is going to stop me.”
The company stressed that the affected staff concerned had self-isolated, the visit was Covid-compliant and “no risks” were taken.
READ MORE: Watch: Ian Blackford lambasts Boris Johnson over Scotland visit in heated exchange at PMQs
No 10, defending Mr Johnson’s Scotland visit, insisted all prime ministerial trips were “always conducted in a Covid-secure way”.
Last Thursday, Mr Johnson came under heavy political fire for making what Nicola Sturgeon branded a “non-essential” trip to Scotland.
During PMQs, Ian Blackford, the Nationalist leader, took him to task, unleashing a forceful condemnation of his Livingston visit, saying it had been “utterly reckless” and an “absolutely shocking error of judgement”.
He accused Mr Johnson of putting “politics before public health” and told MPs: “What an absolute shambles, that he’s gone to a plant where there was a Covid outbreak and the PM can’t just explain away this absolutely shocking error of judgement. Anyone can see that his campaign trip to Scotland was utterly, utterly reckless.”
The Highland MP insisted the PM and his advisers knew beforehand there was a serious Covid outbreak at the plant and that the visit had posed a risk but they made the “irresponsible choice” to visit anyway.
“The PM put politics before public health,” declared Mr Blackford and asked. “Prime Minister, why be so reckless? Is it any wonder that people in Scotland have no faith in this PM; isn’t he the worst possible leader at the worst possible time?”
Mr Johnson hit back, insisting what the people of Scotland wanted to see was the “whole country pulling together and working to develop the vaccine as that fantastic plant in Scotland is doing”.
He went on: “One of the advantages of the Valneva vaccine is that it may be able to combat all sorts of variants in a very comprehensive way. It’s amazing, wonderful to see Scottish scientists working to do that. I had a fantastic time.”
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He added: “Nobody, by the way, raised that issue with me before or since and it is my job to visit every part of this country, nothing and no-one is going to stop me and I am very, very proud of the record of the Government in rolling out the vaccine.”
Earlier, David Lawrence, Valneva’s Chief Financial Officer, said Downing Street had been informed of the outbreak ahead of the PM’s trip.
In a statement, the company said: “Valneva is absolutely committed to safeguarding the health of our employees. A number of coronavirus cases were reported among staff at Valneva’s Livingston, Scotland, site in January.
“As Covid-19 control procedures were in place, those staff who may have been affected were identified and, as a precaution and in line with Government regulations, have been self-isolating. In some cases, the period of self-isolation is already complete.
“We have established that the origin of the infection was community-acquired. We do not expect any impact on our plans and timelines for the development and production of our Covid-19 vaccine resulting from the reported cases.
“We have been in close dialogue with NHS Lothian, Health Protection Scotland as well as the Health and Safety Executive to assess and manage the situation.”
It added: “The Prime Minister’s visit was Covid-compliant. Our team had approved all aspects of his visit from a safety perspective and the site director is comfortable that no risks were taken.”
Downing St came to Mr Johnson’s defence, stressing how all his visits were “always conducted in a Covid-secure way”.
His spokesman explained: “Valneva made us aware that some Covid cases had previously been reported and that they had implemented control procedures.
“I would point you to the words of the Valneva site director who said clearly that if he thought there was any risk – either to visitors or the site – they wouldn’t have allowed the visit to go ahead.
“As I say, the Prime Minister’s visits are always conducted in a Covid-secure way.”
He added: “It is an important part of the Prime Minister’s role to go and meet and see those who are at the very front line of tackling this virus.”
The spokesman indicated that Mr Johnson had not been told about the outbreak, despite Downing Street having been informed.
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